From Brides, For Brides Part IV

It’s that time again! We are so excited to be welcoming two more of our past brides to our blog to share their wedding planning experiences with all of our lovely readers! From budget concerns to their biggest stressors, we hope this bridal advice can help get you going in the right direction. And don’t forget to give us a call if you want to see how the A Southern Soiree team can enhance your own planning experience! Now, help us give our warmest welcome to Jacqueline and Lauren!

Jacqueline and Tom — October 2011 — The Carolina Inn

1) What aspect/moment of your wedding did you love the most?

It is so hard to pick one moment out of a million special moments — especially because A Southern Soiree did a beautiful job of ensuring that everything went off without a hitch. I would say the most unique moment was having the UNC Clef Hangers serenade us after we exchanged vows. Considering I met my husband the first day of class during our freshman year at UNC Chapel Hill AND we were getting married on campus at The (historic) Carolina Inn, hearing “Carolina in My Mind” after we just committed to spending our lives together was really perfect.

2) What was the one (or few) things you stressed the most over during planning? (did it end up being a priority on the day-of?)

The biggest stress point was figuring out the guest list and how many people to give a plus one to. However, Megan and her team were very insistent that usually 30% of guests invited to out of town weddings were unable to attend. Therefore, our wedding attendance worked out very well and we were able to extend an invitation to everyone we wanted to and not exceed capacity. We were so lucky to have their expertise!

3) What area do you wish you had put more money into your budget for/why?

I will say that I am so glad I spend more than our allotted budget on photography. Azul Photography did an incredible job capturing so many moments I never want to forget from our wedding and even captured some fun moments I didn’t even know were happening! I do wish I spent money on a videographer who would have been able to put together a short video encapsulating all of the special moments into an unforgettable snippet with cheesy music. What girl doesn’t love a good love story, especially when it’s her own? 🙂

4) What did you planner do on the day-of that you didn’t expect or know of until the day was over?

I will never forget this — I turned to Kailey (who was always just magically around me at the right moments) during my wedding reception and said “I believe everyone here is significantly drunker than me.” It was just a friendly comment, yet a minute later, I had a glass of champagne in my hand. The A Southern Soiree ladies care so much about you and want you and your beloved to have the most special day. I never stressed planning my wedding (I really mean that) because they were there every step of the way to take care of us!

Fortunately, Gina and the Southern Soiree ladies helped plan my wedding and I loved every aspect/moment of our wedding. I will say, there was one special part that was extremely meaningful to me and my husband. Gina helped us pull of a surprise for our parents at the reception. Both my husband and I are lucky enough to say that our parents have been married for 40+ years. After all the traditional first dances, we dedicated a song to our parents. We danced alongside our parents and it meant the world to both of us.

2) What was the one (or few) things you stressed the most over during planning? (did it end up being a priority on the day-of?)

I stressed the most about the actual plan for the day of the wedding. I love pictures, but I did not want to spend so much time after the service taking pictures. The day-of, it was not a priority because Gina had an explicit schedule and we spent the right amount of time on each item.

3) What area do you wish you had put more money into your budget for/why?

I wish I had put more money into my budget for flowers. The flowers from Fresh Affairs were gorgeous and I loved working with them! However, I feel that if we could have spent more money on flowers and less on the invitations, we could have had more flowers for our wedding day.

4) What did you planner do on the day-of that you didn’t expect or know of until the day was over?

Gina did more than I could imagine to help pull off a gorgeous wedding. One things she did that I didn’t know about until after the day of was place a cute little painting on the guest table with our last name, Barker, listed across and our wedding date, December 13, 2014. It was a gift from her and the Southern Soiree ladies and it’s now hanging in our guest bedroom. They did so many little things throughout the day that made for a perfect wedding!!